Roman deforestation had many causes and of course, many effects. Final Project
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Roman Problems
Rome had a very big deforestation problem which helped lead to their downfall. Wood had many different uses in Rome, but many times, Rome accidentally killed the forests! These uses for wood included building ships and other structures and heating. Wood was used to heat the bath houses, which took 228,000 pounds of wood per year, and it was always kept at a minimum of 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Of course, Rome was built of wood, so that's where many of their trees went. When the Romans wanted to build something with bricks or glass, they had to melt these items.They could partially melt bricks to stick them to the structure they were building such as the aqueducts, and with the glass, shape it to their needs. Rome was such a populated city, that when there were too many people for the city, they needed to expand, so they did. Unfortunately for them, they expanded by cutting down trees. Much of Rome's industrializing required wood, so when they started to clear forests, they had to keep moving their business. Eventually, there were close to no trees on the mainland, so they had to move there business to Northern Africa, where there were tons of trees in the jungles. Cutting down trees didn't just stop their industrial business; it also caused their agriculture business to come to a halt. When there are no trees to add nutrients to the soil, the soil becomes very poor, and horrible for growing crops. Also, since there were now few tree roots to hold the soil in, it started to collapse when it rained, so much of the land became swamp. Rome had access to many different trees including oaks,pines,and other trees with thick,drought-resistant leaves. These other trees are called sclerophyllous trees. After all of the work Rome did to become such a great empire, many tiny things like deforestation, slowly, but surely tore the empire down stick by stick.
Modern Problems
Just like Rome, modern countries like The U.S.A, Brazil, and South Africa, also deal with the problem of deforestation. Originally, over half of the United States was forest, but today only about 10% of the whole country is forest. One major difference between the modern people of today and the ancient Romans is that many people know that deforestation is bad, yet companies continue to do it anyway. The Romans did not know any better than to use the trees. We, too, also use wood for industry and heating. People create products from trees such as paper, furniture, flooring, food packaging,etc. Sometimes,companies cut down forests not for the wood, but for the good places to mine in the forests. Since the year 1600, over 90% of the original trees, have been cut down.(See map)
Many of the remaining forests on the United States' soil are on public land so companies can cut them down freely. America does not have the worst deforestation in today's world though. South America and Africa have very bad deforestation because people keep cutting down many jungles and rain forests, both homes to many different species of plants and animals. Of course, when trees are cut down, the biodiversity goes down with it. Though the Roman Empire fell about 1500 years ago, modern countries and ancient Rome have much in common.
Possible Solutions
There are a few ways the Romans could have prevented all of the deforestation that happened. One solution is that each time they cut down a tree, they plant a new one so it can grow back. If they were to do that then there land may of looked more like this:
http://s3.hubimg.com/u/1980046_f520.jpg
and not like this:
If the Romans had just started a couple tree farms, they could have saved not only trees, but themselves too.
Another thing the Romans could have done to end the deforestation is to educate people. The people who were cutting the trees didn't know how bad it was, so if the government, or even just a citizen had started to educate the companies, there would've been a great decrease in the number of trees cut down. As Dr. Seuss once said in the Lorax, "...Plant a new Truffula (tree). Treat it with care. Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air. Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack..."
If only the Romans could have heard that and listened there would not have been a deforestation problem. To think that two simple little things like planting a tree, or educating their people could have helped an empire stay around just a bit longer.
Email from Greenpeace:
Dear Jack,
Thank you so much for your e-mail and for your interest in protecting the forests. If you have access to the internet, you can check out http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/forests/ for more information on Greenpeace's forest campaigns. You may be able to find some answers to your questions there.
For question 1, what are effective ways to stop/limit deforestation? Well, I would say education! When people learn how important the forests are to the health of the planet and all the creatures in it, it helps them to make decisions that hurt the forest less. Here at Greenpeace, like to educate as many people as possible on the forests, why there are so important, who is hurting them, and what we can do to help. We find the biggest, meanest companies that cut down forests every year (even rainforests!) and we work to stop them. We create petitions and put pressure on companies by teaching people what those companies are doing, so that the people who buy from those companies can tell them to treat the forests better.
For question 2, there are many ways that people use wood. We use it for paper, wood floors and furniture, food packaging, and much more. The problem with deforestation is not using the wood, it is how much wood we use and how fast. We cut down trees much faster than they grow. Many forests, once they are clear-cut (all the trees cut down) do not have a chance to grow back. Also we cut wood from special, unique forests like the rainforests. What do you think is a better solution? We can have trees farms, and we can also be careful about when we need to use wood, how much, and where it comes from.
If you have any more questions that you think I could help you with, please write back!
"The Role of Deforestation in the Fall of Rome." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2013.
Hughes, JD. "Ancient Deforestation Revisited." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Apr.-May 2011. Web. 14 Jan. 2013.
"Ecoscience: The Greeks and Romans Did It, Too!" Mother Earth News. Ogden Publications, Inc, Jan. 2013. Web. 14 Jan. 2013.
"Forest Products." Deforestation. University of Michigan, 4 Jan. 2010. Web. 15 Jan. 2013
Greenpeace USA, Miranda. "Ending Deforestation." Message to Jack. 18 Jan. 2013. E-mail.
Final Project
Roman Problems
Rome had a very big deforestation problem which helped lead to their downfall. Wood had many different uses in Rome, but many times, Rome accidentally killed the forests! These uses for wood included building ships and other structures and heating. Wood was used to heat the bath houses, which took 228,000 pounds of wood per year, and it was always kept at a minimum of 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Of course, Rome was built of wood, so that's where many of their trees went. When the Romans wanted to build something with bricks or glass, they had to melt these items.They could partially melt bricks to stick them to the structure they were building such as the aqueducts, and with the glass, shape it to their needs. Rome was such a populated city, that when there were too many people for the city, they needed to expand, so they did. Unfortunately for them, they expanded by cutting down trees. Much of Rome's industrializing required wood, so when they started to clear forests, they had to keep moving their business. Eventually, there were close to no trees on the mainland, so they had to move there business to Northern Africa, where there were tons of trees in the jungles. Cutting down trees didn't just stop their industrial business; it also caused their agriculture business to come to a halt. When there are no trees to add nutrients to the soil, the soil becomes very poor, and horrible for growing crops. Also, since there were now few tree roots to hold the soil in, it started to collapse when it rained, so much of the land became swamp. Rome had access to many different trees including oaks,pines,and other trees with thick,drought-resistant leaves. These other trees are called sclerophyllous trees. After all of the work Rome did to become such a great empire, many tiny things like deforestation, slowly, but surely tore the empire down stick by stick.Modern Problems
Just like Rome, modern countries like The U.S.A, Brazil, and South Africa, also deal with the problem of deforestation. Originally, over half of the United States was forest, but today only about 10% of the whole country is forest. One major difference between the modern people of today and the ancient Romans is that many people know that deforestation is bad, yet companies continue to do it anyway. The Romans did not know any better than to use the trees. We, too, also use wood for industry and heating. People create products from trees such as paper, furniture, flooring, food packaging,etc. Sometimes,companies cut down forests not for the wood, but for the good places to mine in the forests. Since the year 1600, over 90% of the original trees, have been cut down.(See map)Many of the remaining forests on the United States' soil are on public land so companies can cut them down freely. America does not have the worst deforestation in today's world though. South America and Africa have very bad deforestation because people keep cutting down many jungles and rain forests, both homes to many different species of plants and animals. Of course, when trees are cut down, the biodiversity goes down with it. Though the Roman Empire fell about 1500 years ago, modern countries and ancient Rome have much in common.
Possible Solutions
There are a few ways the Romans could have prevented all of the deforestation that happened. One solution is that each time they cut down a tree, they plant a new one so it can grow back. If they were to do that then there land may of looked more like this:If the Romans had just started a couple tree farms, they could have saved not only trees, but themselves too.
Another thing the Romans could have done to end the deforestation is to educate people. The people who were cutting the trees didn't know how bad it was, so if the government, or even just a citizen had started to educate the companies, there would've been a great decrease in the number of trees cut down. As Dr. Seuss once said in the Lorax,
"...Plant a new Truffula (tree). Treat it with care.
Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air.
Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack..."
If only the Romans could have heard that and listened there would not have been a deforestation problem. To think that two simple little things like planting a tree, or educating their people could have helped an empire stay around just a bit longer.
Email from Greenpeace:
Dear Jack,Thank you so much for your e-mail and for your interest in protecting the forests. If you have access to the internet, you can check out http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/forests/ for more information on Greenpeace's forest campaigns. You may be able to find some answers to your questions there.
For question 1, what are effective ways to stop/limit deforestation? Well, I would say education! When people learn how important the forests are to the health of the planet and all the creatures in it, it helps them to make decisions that hurt the forest less. Here at Greenpeace, like to educate as many people as possible on the forests, why there are so important, who is hurting them, and what we can do to help. We find the biggest, meanest companies that cut down forests every year (even rainforests!) and we work to stop them. We create petitions and put pressure on companies by teaching people what those companies are doing, so that the people who buy from those companies can tell them to treat the forests better.
For question 2, there are many ways that people use wood. We use it for paper, wood floors and furniture, food packaging, and much more. The problem with deforestation is not using the wood, it is how much wood we use and how fast. We cut down trees much faster than they grow. Many forests, once they are clear-cut (all the trees cut down) do not have a chance to grow back. Also we cut wood from special, unique forests like the rainforests. What do you think is a better solution? We can have trees farms, and we can also be careful about when we need to use wood, how much, and where it comes from.
If you have any more questions that you think I could help you with, please write back!
Thanks again for your concern for the forests.
For a green and peaceful future,
Miranda
People I Attempted to Contact
Jared Diamond email: email: JDIAMOND@GEOG.UCLA.EDU
- Rosa Andolfato (general inquiries) Team Assistant, UN-REDD Programme Secretariat Tel: (+41) 22 917 8946
E-mail: rosa.andolfato@un-redd.orgSources: